The Fountain Theatre is gearing up to present the world premiere of a new play written and directed by company co-artistic director Stephen Sachs (Arrival & Departure, Citizen: An American Lyric, Bakersfield Mist). Casting is now complete for Human Interest Story, a timely drama about homelessness, celebrity worship and the assault on American journalism, with the opening date set for Feb. 15, 2020.
Actors
Rob Nagle and Tanya Alexander will head the cast as newspaper columnist Andy Kramer and laid-off elementary school teacher Betty Frazier. The supporting ensemble includes
Richard Azurdia,
Aleisha Force,
James Harper, Matt Kirkwood and Tarina Pouncy.
Nagle is a film, TV and stage actor, and a longtime Los Angeles favorite admired by local theater audiences. His acclaimed portrayal of
Oscar Wilde in
David Hare's The Judas Kiss at Boston Court Pasadena was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "a performance not to be missed." Alexander has been seen in a variety of film and TV roles, and she recently co-starred in the world premiere of Brian Reynolds' Mono/Poly at the Odyssey Theatre.
Stephen Sachs is the co-founder and co-artistic director of
The Fountain Theatre and the author of 15 plays. Recent work includes his Deaf/Hearing love story, Arrival & Departure ("Critic's Choice," Los Angeles Times); his stage adaptation of
William Goldman's screenplay for All the President's Men, starring
Bradley Whitford and
Joshua Malina at L.A. City Hall; and his stage adaptation of
Claudia Rankine's Citizen: An American Lyric, which premiered at
The Fountain Theatre and was remounted by
Center Theatre Group at the
Kirk Douglas Theatre. His play Bakersfield Mist is performed worldwide.
In Human Interest Story, newspaper columnist Andy Kramer is laid off when a corporate takeover downsizes the City Chronicle. In retaliation, Andy fabricates a letter to his column from an imaginary homeless woman named "Jane Doe" who announces she will kill herself on the 4th of July because of the heartless state of the world. When the letter goes viral, Andy is forced to hire a homeless woman to stand-in as the fictitious Jane. She becomes an overnight internet sensation and a national women's movement is ignited.
The production, initially inspired by the 1941
Frank Capra classic film Meet John Doe, was previously announced in the Fountain's season release under the
Working Title Jane Doe.
Human Interest Story will open on Feb. 15 and continue through April 5 at
The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Avenue in Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 663-1525 or go to
www.FountainTheatre.com.
